On Friday, Kathy Griffin, her attorney, Lisa Bloom, and her criminal defense lawyer, Dmitry Gorin, held a press conference addressing the situation stemming from her controversial Tyler Shields photoshoot showcasing the comedian holding a prop of a bloody severed head resembling Donald Trump. The whole thing is one big mess with a lot of conflicting feelings. All that said, there is one tweet that sums up Kathy Griffin's situation quite well, if I do say so myself.
The West Coast editor for Vulture, Joe Adalian, tweeted Friday after the press conference, "You can believe that Kathy Griffin's photo shoot was dumb & even offensive and also be disturbed by intensity of the backlash against it."
I couldn't have said it better myself. First, allow me to say that I do not agree with Griffin and Shields' photo shoot whatsoever. There are other ways to express yourself and your thoughts about anyone, including Trump. For me, this wasn't the way to do it. It was a bad call on her part, which she has recognized. On Wednesday, she apologized on Instagram, and said,
"I sincerely apologize. I'm just now seeing the reaction to these images. I'm a comic, I cross the line, I move the line, then I cross it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing, I understand how it offends people, it wasn't funny, I get it. I've made a lot of mistakes in my career, I will continue, and I ask for your forgiveness."
Trump responded to the photo on Twitter Tuesday and wrote, "Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!"
The images are beyond disturbing, but everything that has followed is pretty intense. Griffin been fired by CNN and claims she is being investigated by the Secret Service, but beyond that, she says she's received death threats and Twitter users are calling for her to be jailed.
During the press conference, Griffin said, "If you don't stand up, you get run over. What's happening to me has never happened in this great country." She claimed, "A sitting president of the U.S. ... is personally trying to ruin my life forever." Her lawyer, Bloom, also said Griffin's intent wasn't to promote any kind of violence, especially against the president of the United States. "Kathy never imagined it could be misinterpreted as a threat of violence against Trump," Bloom said. "That was never what she intended."
When you look at the situation, there are many, like Bloom, who feel like Griffin is being censored for exercising her First Amendment right. Then, there are others who believe this type of photo is disrespectful and incites violence, so she should be punished.
Did she go too far? Is the backlash against Griffin going too far? It's possible to think both. Whatever you believe, there is no doubt that the entire situation is extremely intense.
